Web of Sins

Right in front of him

Yeah, it is out a bit late, sorry y'all :/ but uh, it's here! Yay? The ending of the previous chapter was really like the ending of the first 'section' of this story, because things are gonna be quite a bit crazier from hereon out. Buckle in!

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"Seriously, Shiro, he's the sweetest, most beautifulest, most talented guy out there, and I still can't believe what happened last night! In my car!"

Shiro wrinkled his nose in amusement as Keith moved his hands animatedly to go along with his explanation of why Lance was as amazing as he was while they sat at Shiro's kitchen table. "He must be pretty great if he can get you to start saying words like 'beautifulest'."

Keith grumbled, but it was more pouty than hostile. "Shiro, I'm being serious here! Like, it isn't just looks and stuff...Lance...he gets me, in a way nobody I've ever met does...like that time he talked to me at the mall, I told you about that, right? It's like, he knows what to say to me, better than anyone else...oh, uh, besides you, Shiro, but you don't count."

"Don't count?"

"Yeah, you're some sort of emotionally understanding entity, so you don't count."

Shiro erupted into laughter at that, and Keith couldn't help but join him, even if he hadn't been completely joking. There was only one Shiro in the world; but there seemed to be only one Lance in the world, too. He connected with Lance in ways he thought he could only ever connect with Shiro, and that was what had him completely taken by the dancer.

"Well, I'm happy for you, but you know that by now. You've only told me about Lance like 500 times."

Keith blushed a bit and avoided eye contact, rubbing his crossed arms sheepishly. "Sorry if it's annoying..."

"No, it's okay, I love hearing about it," Shiro assured, reaching out to place his prosthetic hand on Keith's shoulder. "I'm just a little...worried."

Keith rose an eyebrow at his tone of voice. "Worried about what?"

Shiro sighed. "Well...worried about you, obviously. Are you sure you're going to be alright dating somebody who's constantly getting physically intimate with countless other men? You might have to see him in situations you'd rather not see but can't do anything about, like having men touch him and...you know, that type of stuff."

Keith grimaced a bit, because he too had been struggling with that aspect of things, and even now he was still coming to terms with it, but he was willing to put in the effort. "I know, but you know, last night, Lance promised he'd stop having sex with other people! For me! He said he'd only do his pole and lap dances from now on and that he'd stop accepting private sex requests! He's clearly trying, so I'm going to try, too. That's already a huge step, don't you think?" He was beaming at Shiro, but the young teacher didn't share his enthusiasm.

"Well, sure, that sounds great and all in theory, but...do you think you can trust Lance?"

"What?!" Keith pulled away from Shiro's hand and stood up, arms tossed out to either side of him theatrically. "I've got no reason not to trust him yet, do I?! Lance wasn't even rushing to try and get in a relationship with me by any means, so it's not like he's been after my money! He's been genuine with me in that regard, why shouldn't I trust that he's genuine when he says he'll stop having sex? I know he's a stripper, but he has morals too!"

"Woah, woah, calm down tiger!" Shiro stood up as well, holding his hands out in front of him. "I wasn't accusing anybody. Trust me, I know strippers have morals. I was dating Matt when he still worked at the Web, remember? I promise, I don't think Lance is a bad person either."